Christmas, 2007

[Dr. Manuel recently provided me with the Christmas letters he and his wife Linda have sent each year since 2001.
One of the annual letters will be posted each day over a two week period.]

Dr. and Mrs. Paul Manuel

Christmas 2007

Dear Friends and Family,

What continues to amaze me is the way God oversees events in our lives for good, especially as He takes seemingly small things and arranges them to our advantage. There are probably many more instances than those of which I am aware, but occasionally, when I am paying attention, I notice His sovereign and benevolent hand in what other people might consider random occurrences.

Most of us want life to proceed in a particular direction and at a predictable pace. We have a notion about how events should unfold, and we try to arrange circumstances to ensure the best outcome. Unfortunately, life is not easy to manage. There are many variables, many bumps in the road and unexpected detours that force us to change our plans. Try as we might, we cannot always make arrangements that will benefit us most.

Thankfully, God is willing to help us. He consistently makes good choices, and He is never surprised by how events unfold. He alone is able to ensure the best outcome, He never has to change His plans, and His timing is impeccable. The Apostle Paul mentions two examples of God's perfect timing. One example He demonstrated at Jesus' first advent.

When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman...that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Gal 4:4-8)

At a specific moment in history, and in a seemingly small thing when very few were paying attention, God took a deliberate and dramatic step to advance His plan. We are not sure what made that moment the right one, but it has worked to our advantage more than anything we might plan, yielding a bevy of amazing benefits:

• While we were once the object of God's wrath and estranged from Him, we have since become the object of His love and enjoy fellowship with Him.

• While we once charted the course of life alone, a course ultimately destined for destruction, we now have His assurance of guidance and His promise of success.

The apostle notes another example of God's perfect timing is what He will demonstrate at Jesus' second advent.

God made known to us the mystery of his will...to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things...under one head, even Christ. (Eph 1:9-10)

This is the point toward which history, including our history, is moving, an event to which everyone will be paying attention. Again, it will work to our advantage more than anything we might plan, yielding other amazing benefits:

• While we were once destined to spend eternity apart from God and in a most unpleasant state, we now look forward to being with Him forever and in a state more delightful than any we have known.

• While we once faced only His condemnation and His terrible wrath, we now have the prospect of His commendation and His unparalleled reward.

Christmas is about God's timing in the past and about how that one event has shaped our lives in wonderful ways. God is not finished, though, for with a similar demonstration of timing in the future, another event will shape our lives in yet more wonderful ways. These are not random occurrences, however they may appear to others. They are evidence of God's sovereign and benevolent hand. May that evidence confirm your faith in Him and inspire your service to Him. May it give you hope and joy this Christmas and throughout the New Year.

Pastor and Linda